Dominik: Davis wants to be an 'extra set of eyes,' not coach

Butch Davis will be an 'extra set of eyes,' for new Bucs head coach Greg Schiano, but has no interest in being a hands-on member of the coaching staff.

That's according to general manager Mark Dominik, who said the Bucs would consider approaching the University of North Carolina about Davis' $2.7-million settlement that prevents him from coaching if that were necessary.

"Sure, we would do that,'' Dominik said Tuesday. "But right now, that’s not why he’s here and not what he’s doing here.

"The main reason Butch Davis wanted to come here was to work with his good friend, Greg Schiano and to help him because he understands the pressures and how hard it is as a first-year NFL head coach. And so he wanted to come here and advise. That is his 100 percent goal. Having met him, I can see why Greg Schiano wanted to have Butch Davis on his staff as well.''

Davis, 60, was fired by the Tar Heels just before the start of the 2011 season when North Carolina’s football program was found to have committed multiple NCAA rules violations. Because of his $2.7-million settlement North Carolina, Davis cannot coach. On Monday, he was named the Bucs special assistant to the head coach and will assist Schiano in a ‘wide range of football aspects.’’

Dominik outlined those duties for Davis to include, but not be limited, to attending offensive, defensive and special teams meetings, evaluating player personnel on the roster and for free agency and the NFL draft. He also said Davis will observe practice and could have some role in the coach's box on game days.

"There are certain things we’re going to ask Butch Davis to do that I think are the most important things and that’s being an extra set of eyes for us,'' Dominik said. "He can evaluate talent for him, he can evaluate our team, he can listen in meetings and make sure that things are going the right way. Those are the things that are the most important, and again, more over the top, seeing it, being an extra set of eyes and being an asset to coach Schiano.

“He’ll be watching the offensive coordinator when Greg is on defense and when coach Schiano is on offense, he can be listening to defense or the special teams coach. It’s just an extra guy that’s really going to be able to help -- all the things that pull a head coach in a lot of different areas.''

Despite the addition of Davis, the Bucs still plan to hire a defensive coordinator, although that may not occur prior to next week's NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.

Dominik said the Bucs aren't concerned about the slow pace of hirings to Schiano's coaching staff and are more focused on making sure they acquire the right coaches. Tampa Bay has been denied requests to interview position coaches for coordinator jobs by several NFL teams, including Cardinals quarterbacks coach John McNulty, Packers tight end coach Ben McAdoo and 49ers defensive backs coach Ed Donatell. But Dominik said those denials were not the result of any retribution toward the Bucs.

“That’s the National Football League,'' Dominik said. "There’s a lot of clubs that have policies in place or they have coaches. In a way, it’s a compliment not only to coach Schiano and the guys he’s trying to uncover and talk to but it’s also a compliment to those coaches on those staffs that they’re talented coaches they don’t want to let go. That happens everywhere in the National Football League.

"Seeing the guys he’s bringing in this building, you can see why he’s taking his time. I think it’s going to pay off for this football team in the short and long term.''

Finally, Dominik reiterated a pledge he made last month that the Bucs would be active in free agency. The Bucs have the second-most cap space in large part because they had $23.519 million of carryover cap money from 2011 that they rolled into 2012. Only Kansas City has more than the $60.496-million in salary space which belongs to the Bucs this year.

“Like I said a month and a half ago, like we said from day one, we’ll be involved in free agency this year,'' Dominik said. "I know we will be. To what capacity? It depends on what the list looks like and who comes free. But we’re prepared. And that’s I think the most important thing. We’ll be more active in free agency than we were last year, sure. We purposely rolled every penny we could into this year's cap and clubs didn't have to do that. We wanted to. We have plans.''

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